Appointed for a term ending December 31, 2024. For over three decades, award-winning filmmaker Selwyn Jacob has been telling stories about the lives and experiences of Black Canadians, Indigenous peoples and other often underrepresented communities. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Jacob came to Canada in 1968. He holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta (1970) and an MSc in Film Education from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (1975). Early in his career -1976 to 1981 - Jacob worked as a teacher, and as a school principal with the Lac La Biche School Division in Northern Alberta. He also taught for two years with Edmonton Public School Board before joining Alberta Education as a Media Consultant from 1983 to 1995. As an independent filmmaker he directed We Remember Amber Valley (1984), about the Black community that existed near Lac La Biche, AB; Carol’s Mirror (NFB - 1991) which won six international awards; and Gemini award-winning The Road Taken (1996), about the Black sleeping car porters of the Canadian railroad. In 1997 Jacob Joined the National Film Board of Canada as part of the Special Mandate Team for Cultural Diversity. Based at the Pacific and Yukon Studio in Vancouver, he went on to produce over fifty films. During 23 years at the NFB, he produced a wide range of documentaries including Charles Officer's Leo- and Emmy-award-winning Mighty Jerome (2010) and Mina Shum’s feature documentary Ninth Floor, about the Sir George Williams Riot of 1969. The 2015 film was selected to TIFF’s annual Top Ten list of the best Canadian films of the year. His most recent films - Holy Angels (2017), Because We Are Girls (2019), and Now Is The Time (2019), were also award-winning, and screened at numerous national and international film festivals. Personal honours for Jacob include:
- Lifetime Achievement Award from Vancouver Film Critics Circle (2020)
- An Honorary Doctor of Laws from Dalhousie University (2019)
- Outstanding Achievement Award from Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta (2017)
- Certificate of Appreciation from City of Vancouver, Black History Month Planning Committee (2015)
- An Alumni Honour Award from the University of Alberta for community contribution (2013); and
- The John Ware Award for Black Achievement (1997, Edmonton AB).
Jacob retired from the NFB in June 2019 and spends much of his time mentoring emerging filmmakers.